The present disclosure relates to alarm systems and more specifically to a method and system for monitoring alarm systems. The present disclosure also relates to VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) connectivity.
Alarm systems, which are also known as security systems, burglar systems, etc., are conventionally connectable to an alarm central through a public switched telephone network (PSTN), whereby synthesized voice or an encoded message string are communicated when an alarm is triggered. However, if the PSTN line is hacked or is unavailable, such a conventional alarm system becomes unable to reach out the alarm central.
More and more alarm systems are equipped with a cellular backup system or with IP (Internet Protocol) connectivity that creates a ‘fail-safe’ communication path from the intrusion detection system to the central monitoring station via a GSM or CDMA (Code division multiple access) cellular data network.
A drawback of such backup systems is that, contrarily to alarm systems communicating through a PSTN, they go out when the cellular data network or Internet goes down.
In addition to involving additional costs to the end-user, a cellular backup system or an Internet monitored alarm system can also be respectively rendered unable by a cellular jammer (cellular backup) or cut-off with the simple snip of a wire (Internet and PSTN).
In all those cases, an alarm central becomes unable to receive from the alarm system an alarm message indicative of a breach of security.
Some alarm systems have an interactive platform allowing users to interact with lights, climate control, alarm, audio/video. However, such an interactive platform implies that an event has to be triggered with the push of a button or via an infra red (IR) detector. Also, these functionalities are not available with most alarm system.